The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1887-05-20


into the woods. Among the killed was
Diablito himself, who, while swimming
for the shore, was recognized by the
Spanish pilot Of the Mosquito and shot
The Greyhound and Beagle then
went cruising on the south coast of
Cuba, through the Jardines and about
the Isle of Pines, but found no sport
until they were in the vicinity of Cape
Cruz. This region was reported to be
famous haunt of the pirates, but not
trace of human presence was to be
seen from the water. The shore was
wooded and seemed to be a mere jungle
Of thorny chaparral.
The two war-ships anchored within
few hundred yards of the beach, and a
boat, under command of Lieutenant
Newton, of the Beagle, went ashore to
look about, as much in the hope of
shooting game as of finding pirates,
since the place appeared to be unin-
habited. The men were armed as
usual and they had proceeded but a
few steps into the woods when a man
was observed watching their move
ments from cover of thicket- He at
once disappeared, and, with wise eau
ton, the men were straightway ordered
back to the boat. Hardly had they
taken their places when a vOlley of
musketry was discharged at them from
the brush. The fire was returned, but
with what effect could not be deter
mined, for none of the concealed fusi-
leers showed themselves; and the num-
! bers of the enemy being unknown, the
boat was ordered back to the Beagle.
Night being now at hand, no imme-
date attempt was made to dislOdge the
hidden musketeers. But at three
o'clock the next morning Lieutenant
/ Farragut was ordered to land with a
force of seventeen marines from the
Greyhound, and drive the pirates-for
there was no doubt as to their charac-
ter-out of their lurking-places. The
two schooners, meantime, were to warp
as close to the shore as possible, and
protect the attacking party against any
possible rush of the enemy in over
whelming numbers.
cit was about as uncertain an errand
as 1 ever set out on, the Admiral used
to remark, ''for it was still dark, and
we had not the least notion of the char
acter of the country inshOre, nor yet
in what numbers we might unearth the
rogues. But as to the nature of the
footing we were not long left in doubt.
/ In all my life I had never seen such
walking. The chaparral was one jun
| gle of thorn-brush, which tore our cloth
ing to pieces and scratched our flesh at
every step. The only way we were
! able to make any progress whatever
was to cut the brush down with our
| cutlasses. We had literally hewed our
way into it for several hundred PAGES,
when we came upon a lagoon, or arm
of the sea, too deep to ford, though it
was not more than thirty or forty yards
in width We skirted the lagoon for
some distance, and at length came out
to the mouth of it, where it joined the
sea.
THUS we had accomplished nothing.
and were back at the beach again, and
as it happened, narrowly escaped be-
ing fired on by the Greyhound. For
from our appearing in this unexpected
place, they at first mistook us for a
party of pirates trying to cut us off
from the water. Fortunately, just as
they were about to give us a charge of
grape, the Captain caught sight of the
glisten of my epaulette in the semi
ObscuTity, and hastily cOuntermanded
the order. He then hailed us, and on
learning of the state of affairs, sent off
/ the boat to put us across the lagoon.
"Once on the other side. we started
to beat into the thickets again, being
by this time drenched to our skins,
covered with mud, and having our
clothing nearly torn off our bodies by
the thorns.
Presently a messenger from the
Beagle came up with us and said that
the position of the pirates had been
| discovered at a considerable distance
farther along the shore. He brought
me orders to make wide detour in
land, so as to approach the enemy in
the rear, while the two schoOners
warped in from the sea and attacked
the shoreward side of the stronghold.
"This new plan of attack required us
to make still longer march. We set
about it, however, like good boys, and
with a will, and in the course of a
couple of hours penetrated for mile
or more through the dense jungle. By
this time the morning had grown in
| tensely hot. Lieutenant Somerville,
who had accompanied nIe, was seized
with sudden nausea and tainted from
an attack much like sun-stroke. We
were all of us bathed in perspiration
and covered with blood, too from
our scratched hands, arms and
faces. But not one of us had
shown the white feather so far;
and after a time, having got around
to the rear of the place where we sup
posed the pirates to be posted, halted
my party to wait for the signal-guu
from the Greyhound, which 1 had
been told to lay by for. The brush
was so dense all about us that we could
not see through it for any considerable
distance; and we had scarcely sat down
in the grass, to wait for the signal-gun,
when, on a sudden, we heard a noise
in our rear, a cracking, swapping and
rustling, as if a large party were COM
ing through the briars.
"'It's the piratesl They're comingl
They've surrounded usr was the stimuli
taneous exclamation from nearly every
man in the detachment.
II thought so myself, and instantly
gave the order to form in line and
make ready. From the noise, the en-
envy were apparently in overwhelming
force. They seemed to be creeping
rapidly through the dense chaparral,
and in a line several hundred yards in
length. I thought to myself that our
last hour had surely come. To keep
up my own courage, I begun a most
| ~,,s,-gAoI ho,-,w emo n NV mon